Sunday, February 19, 2017

The 'Rosetta Stone' for Decoding Much of the Current Culture

At Roy's place, commenter M.Krebs linked to a blog post about the role that the 4chan message board played in the ascent of Donald Trump. This post is required reading for anyone trying to make sense of the political career of a boorish, idiotic authoritarian.

4chan is the wellspring of much of internet culture, having originated such ubiquitous internet memes as LOLcats, Rickrolling... indeed the typical 'internet meme' with the black-bordered white lettering. The 'no rule' random board /b/, whose users styled themselves as /b/tards, was the place where the channers tried to one-up each other with disturbing images, extreme porn, scatalogical content, Nazi allusions. I've never been a 4chan denizen, being too old and too averse to bad grammar and spelling, but I internet-know a decent fellow who was a 4channer, and he characterized the trolling culture there as 'pissing in an ocean of piss'.

My gut feeling is that much of the anger that led to Gamergate, the 'alt-right', and the Trump election stems from the 4chan 'internet nerd' crowd's anger at having their culture 'co-opted' by normies. When Katy Perry referenced 'their' cartoon frog in a tweet, it caused a lot of outrage among the alt-cognitive. The spite that led to the Trump election is similar- the wholesale rejection of societal norms as a backlash to the 'liberal elite', or 'politically correct' culture. The 'chan' base, the 'anime Nazis', backed Trump because they saw the election of this 'pussy grabber in chief' as a rebuke to the Anita Sarkeesians of the world.

The tragedy of this particular political backlash is that it is rooted in an ephemeral internet culture, but its dire effects will be long-term. The standing of the United States is in jeopardy, as are the civil rights of its residents. Most alarmingly, the planet's ecology is reaching a tipping point while the administration is doubling down on denial. By the time the 'chan klan' grows up and realizes that their actions have real consequences, it will probably be too damn late, but hey, at least they showed those uppity bitches and meme-stealing normies an thing or two.

4 comments:

You're probably on to something, there. The "alt-right" has a long and strange history but it was very obscure and marginal until the last few years, when it germinated in Manosphere/MRA blogs and Gamergate shitpiles. I'm not so sure that one can actually say that Channers are directly responsible for this mess, but the conservative movement certainly absorbed some of their nastier traits. The Nazification of various douchebag internet personalities and PUA con men had an unexpectedly strong ripple effect.

When I first started internetting instead of conducting my life in person, I used to visit the chans a lot. I was into hentai (especially a comicker called Mentaiko, whose work was at the time pretty hard to find), I watched all the animus. There were gifs. There was pr0n. I was there, Gandalf! I was there the day the strength of men failed.

I never really saw any swastikas, though. I have noticed, in the years since I stopped visiting the chans (which I left completely because they started focusing more and more on porn I couldn't cosign for), that fandom has become political. Anti-Semitic and misogynistic, specifically. Perhaps those febrile little adolescent /b/tards grew up to blame their myriad failures on cartoonishly assertive women and shadow cabals of Zionists; maybe the bigots just infiltrated a vulnerable subculture. I don't know. I don't, in fact, really care.

I do know that, as a politically-progressive ladynerd with rainbow interests, fandom has become a minefield for me. In addition to all the other terrible things, I now have to worry that fawning over a particular genre novel on Tumblr will make me a #shield for whatever fucking awful thing will replace the Puppies. I have to parse every comment typed by every unvetted rando for secret hints of coded bigotry. I have to explain, in little words, what "triggering" actually means to every idiot who decides to "call me out" on my aversion to photos of mutilated animals. Which, I know, first world problems. But it feels like the nerds aren't very angry at the people who are actually responsible for their being bullied and marginalized (a group which, in theory, would include assholes like Donald Trump); they're out to get revenge on the rest of us, for existing. It's depressing.

Can you become a special new kind of shadow hikikomori, to escape the original gen hikikomoris? Senpai, help me.

I'm not so sure that one can actually say that Channers are directly responsible for this mess, but the conservative movement certainly absorbed some of their nastier traits. The Nazification of various douchebag internet personalities and PUA con men had an unexpectedly strong ripple effect.

I don't think the chans had any more of an effect than reddit, but I agree with you that the coalescing of the various Gamergaters and Sad/Rabid Puppies and MRA contingents was a factor. Misogyny played a huge role in the campaign against the first woman major party presidential candidate.

When I first started internetting instead of conducting my life in person, I used to visit the chans a lot. I was into hentai (especially a comicker called Mentaiko, whose work was at the time pretty hard to find), I watched all the animus. There were gifs. There was pr0n. I was there, Gandalf! I was there the day the strength of men failed.

So desu ne?

Anti-Semitic and misogynistic, specifically. Perhaps those febrile little adolescent /b/tards grew up to blame their myriad failures on cartoonishly assertive women and shadow cabals of Zionists; maybe the bigots just infiltrated a vulnerable subculture. I don't know. I don't, in fact, really care.

It's easier to blame a conspiracy of 'others' spoon-fed to you by opportunistic older men than it is to actually research who is causing your problems, if anyone is. Hopefully, some of these guys will snap out of their bigotry bubble.

I do know that, as a politically-progressive ladynerd with rainbow interests, fandom has become a minefield for me. In addition to all the other terrible things, I now have to worry that fawning over a particular genre novel on Tumblr will make me a #shield for whatever fucking awful thing will replace the Puppies. I have to parse every comment typed by every unvetted rando for secret hints of coded bigotry. I have to explain, in little words, what "triggering" actually means to every idiot who decides to "call me out" on my aversion to photos of mutilated animals

It really boggles my mind that most of the hostility is directed at women who share their interests, the very same women they should cultivate friendships and/or romantic relationships with. I just can't fathom that animosity. My judo buddies and I were thrilled when we a woman joined us to teach our Saturday children's classes- she adds a great energy and enthusiasm to our endeavors and has become an integral part of our group. I'm a nerd's nerd, I go to physics lectures for fun, but I'm not an otaku (never mind that I binge watched the entire original Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman series last year), so I am insulated from a lot of weeaboo angst. That being said, geekdom should be welcoming to women, PoC, LGBTQ, and persons with ability challenges- fuck, we love Vulcans and hobbits, we really need to love humans.

Can you become a special new kind of shadow hikikomori, to escape the original gen hikikomoris? Senpai, help me.

About Me

The Big Bad Bald Bastard is a character played by Monsieur _______ of the City of Y______. The role of the Bastard is a handy one to play on subways, walking the streets, and in dive-bars, when being a nerdy, bookish sort is not to one's advantage.